658 words Thanks to the internet, teens don’t have to drive to a mall to buy sneakers, let alone anachronisms like CDs or video-game cartridges. In many places, it’s also more difficult and takes longer to get a license than it used to. But research clearly shows that the rise of alternative means of transport … Read more

364 words When it first hit the streets in the 1880s, the modern bicycle was a revolutionary innovation, the iPhone of its time. In those days, before the automobile was invented, when horses, trains, and feet were the main ways to get around, people were amazed and thrilled by these marvels of science and engineering, … Read more

426 words One morning in October of 1971, a six-year-old girl named Simone Langenhoff was riding her bike down a road in the southern Netherlands. Suddenly, a careless driver whipped around a blind corner and crashed into her. In an instant, Simone became one of some 450 children killed by automobiles in the Netherlands that … Read more

676 words Manufacturers argued that their restrictions were necessary to safeguard trade secrets and to protect people from hurting themselves by messing with their machines. “Apple told Nebraska lawmakers that the bill would turn the state into a ‘Mecca for bad actors,’ predicting that hackers and other nefarious figures would flock to the state to … Read more

497 words What’s good for consumers and the planet is not always good for corporations, of course. Apple makes money if you buy a new iPhone; it makes nothing if you get your old iPhone fixed at an independent repair shop. That’s why companies of all sorts have, for decades, discouraged repair and encouraged customers … Read more

355 words Sooner or later, all electronic products will stop working. Some part will get fried. Some internal system will slip out of whack. Entropy will inevitably collect its due. What do you do then? If the product in question is a car, no one would answer, “Recycle it and get a new one.” Recycling … Read more